What you are both committing to.
WHY WRITTEN TERMS MATTER
Verbal arrangements are remembered differently and they are unenforceable in practice.
WHAT TO AGREE
Scope: what is included and excluded
Deliverables Timescale, and what it depends on Price and payment terms Revisions included What additional work costs Who owns the work produced Confidentiality How either party ends the arrangement
WHY OWNERSHIP MATTERS
Without agreement, ownership of what you produce may not be what either party assumes.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Whether ownership transfers, and when.
WHAT TO CONSIDER
Ownership transferring on full payment.
WHY
It protects you if payment does not arrive.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH ABOUT YOUR OWN MATERIALS
That tools, methods and reusable components remain yours.
WHY
Otherwise you may be unable to reuse your own work.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH ABOUT PORTFOLIO USE
Whether you may show the work.
WHY
Clients frequently object later, and permission is easier at the start.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH ABOUT PAYMENT
Deposit before starting Staged payments on longer work Final payment on delivery What happens if payment is late
WHY A DEPOSIT
It tests commitment and it funds the work.
HOW MUCH
Enough that abandoning the project costs the client something.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH ABOUT CANCELLATION
What is payable if the client stops the work.
WHY
Projects are cancelled, and the time is already spent.
WHAT TO KEEP SIMPLE
The document.
WHY
Clients do not sign what they cannot understand.
